Review 2864: Tuscan Villas, Villa Carda

When

May 26--June 2, 2007, 1 week

Review

We want to express how much we enjoyed our stay in Villa Carda. The villa exceeded our expectations, plenty of space for the six of us to spread out, with the bedrooms affording privacy when we wanted it. The furnishings were lovely and very comfortable. And we shall miss the luxury of those wonderful bed linens!

The grounds are breathtaking, exquisitely maintained, and we had a bonus of a few fresh cherries from the trees and fresh lettuce and radishes from the garden. (A cinghiale or perhaps a large porcupine, raided it one night much to the irritation of the gardener who spent all the next day building a fence to avoid future such raids). And it was nice to be able to take some dips in the pool after a long day's outing.

We took the opportunity to have a couple of dinners prepared for us by Piero and Nada (arranged by Antonio the owner) and are so glad we did! A bonus of our dinners was the opportunity to select wines from Antonio's wine collection. A very very nice amenity!

We spent our days exploring the villages and towns nearby. Don't miss dinner at Ristorante Cosentino by the castle in Poppi, and at Il Tirabuscio in Bibbiena. The town of Montepulciano is a "must see" (recommended to us by Antonio), and it was fun doing our local shopping and enjoying gelato in the little village of Rassina nearby (Il Molina restaurant down the hill has good dinners too). I spent each morning walking up the hill from Villa Carda and then down again to the tiny settlement of S. Maria Carda. I never did walk all the way to the village of Carda.

The "icing on the cake" for us was the wonderfully enjoyable and accommodating host/owner: Antonio. We cannot say enough about his guidance for day trips, restaurants, etc., help with questions, etc. And his son Marco was also extremely helpful, his English being excellent. We totally appreciated their patience with our lack of knowledge of the Italian language.

The six of us thoroughly enjoyed our week at Villa Carda and hope to return again in the future.

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.